This invention pertains to a modular display panel system, and more particularly to a panel usable in such a system, and to a latch structure which is employed in such a panel to stabilize laterally adjacent panels against vertical misalignment of the type which can occur on an uneven floor.
There are many environments, such as those relating to trade shows, art exhibits, conventions, etc., wherein portable modular panel systems are employed to provide generally large-area continuous surfaces for displaying various things. Such systems are in relatively widespread use, and are typically installed over and over again in different settings. Such systems are, generally speaking, modularized in such a fashion that they can easily be assembled in various configurations, and easily disassembled for compact storage and convenient transportation from location to location.
An issue which often arises with respect to different display environments is that a system of the type now generally being discussed may be set up in an area where the underlying support floor is irregular, uneven, etc. In such a situation, it can occur, and too often does occur, that laterally adjacent panels in an assembled display panel system become vertically misaligned as a consequence of underlying floor irregularity. Such misalignment is unsightly, undesirable and often difficult to cure on the spot.
The present invention recognizes the desire to deal with this issue in a relatively simple and convenient manner, and proposes a unique edge-to-edge latching and stabilizing structure, incorporated at the side margins of those panels which will become laterally adjacent panels in an overall panel assembly, which structure positively latches adjacent (edge-to-edge) panels against undesirable vertical misalignment of the type mentioned. In a panel system which employs the structure of the present invention, support floor unevenness of the kind above referred to does not telegraph itself into vertical panel misalignment in the assembled display.
For general background information regarding the field of this invention, reference is here made to several U.S. Patents. Particularly, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,275 (to Zeigler), U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,548 (to Goudie), U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,097 (to Zeigler), U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,336 (to Backer), U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,560 (to Miller), U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,858 (to Perutz) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,720 (to LaBruzza).
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the same includes, for each panel with respect to which it is employed, and further with respect to each lateral edge of such a panel which is intended to join with a lateral edge of an adjacent panel, an elongate generally upright channel structure which carries certain interactive latching components made in accordance with the invention. The proposed channel structure includes (1) an elongate channel member having an elongate, nominally open-ended channel, and (2) an elongate, laterally outwardly facing exposure slot which opens to one lateral side of the channel.
Disposed within the channel, preferably adjacent the upper open end thereof, and nominally concealed inside the channel, is a hinged, spring-biased coupler which is yieldably urged by an appropriate biasing spring toward a condition in which it is substantially entirely concealed and contained within its associated channel. The coupler can be swung (actuated) against the yieldable resistance provided by the biasing spring toward a deployed condition, wherein an end, somewhat claw-like, coupling portion in the coupler extends laterally outwardly through the exposure slot associated with the channel. During operation of the system, this extended coupling portion overlaps, and latches with, a like deployed coupling portion in a coupler associated with an adjacent panel. Such latching stabilizes the two, laterally adjacent panels against unwanted vertical misalignment.
Actuation of laterally adjacent couplers to swing their coupling portions into deployed conditions is performed (in accordance with the invention) through vertical introduction and positioning of elongate actuators, or actuator structures, into the upper open ends of the associated channels. Such positioning causes the introduced actuators and the associated couplers to engage one another in a kind of xe2x80x9ccammingxe2x80x9d manner which causes swinging of the associated couplers to place their coupling portions in the mentioned deployed conditions.
Preferably, the actuator of this invention takes the form of a channel-mountable element which, when appropriately affixed in a channel, extends downwardly from the lower end of the channel in a panel member that is to be stacked on top of another panel member. When a panel having this actuator is mounted on top of another panel, the extending part of the actuator enters the open upper end of the underlying channel in the underlying panel. The extending element engages and actuates the coupler provided in that underlying panel, and, by causing rotation of the coupler against the action of the associated biasing spring, shifts the coupler""s coupling portion to the above-mentioned deployed condition.
Alternative embodiments of the invention disclosed herein feature modified structural components, including elongate actuator elements which, if no xe2x80x9cstacked-panelxe2x80x9d condition is to be created, can be inserted downwardly into the open ends of channels to produce coupler deployment. All elements and features of the modified structures are to be treated herein as being incorporated appropriately in the language presented in the claims to the invention.
Various other important features and advantages that are offered by the present invention will become more fully apparent as the description that now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.